Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Photo school

One of the things I brought home from our holidays was a shiny new camera.
I did love the one I had, it was a hybrid Sony camera (hybrid means that is has the body of a compact camera, but it allows the use of interchangeable, better quality lenses).
This camera was awesome, I took the photographs of all my patterns for the last 2 years with it, and the automatic mode was just perfect.

But, I kept reading "You should learn to use your camera", and "your pictures could be so much better with a Reflex"... And especially I kept hearing "Why would you buy a big camera and use it in auto-mode?".

Well, I did get my new camera, I brought it home un-touched and... What do I do with this beast now?  No idea.
So it seemed reasonable to take some photography lessons, and I signed for photo-school.  I'll be studying a semestre in which I am supposed to learn not only how to use this beast, but also to take "photos with a meaning".  Well, I tell you: I had never been so scared of learning something since I finished university!

Suddenly I feel that all the pictures I have been taking all this time are just rubbish.  But why do they have to be perfect?  I don't know, and certainly my teachers don't tell me so, but now that I know how pictures are "supposed" to be taken, I feel bad about how spontaneous mine were all this time.

Anyway, I guess in the end, I will feel a lot more happy about this new tool, and my pictures should be improving.  In the meantime, I have learnt to take those pretty "stash" pictures that I've been drooling over for years:

Stash pic for Ravelry: Malabrigo Arroyo in colorway "Sand Bank"
Stash pic for Ravelry: Northbound Knitting BFL/Silk in "Nocturne"
I have been trying to reorganize my stash and photograph everything there, so that I know what to work with.  I find my stash feature really helpful!  If only I could keep it updated...

So it seems like through yarn, the camera and I are starting to get to know each other.  I haven't felt the confidence yet to take the pictures for a pattern, but it will happen, eventually.

This week our teacher gave us a new assignment.  We are studying different kinds of portraits, and we need to take "environmental portraits" and "close-up portraits".
I felt like taking a portrait of myself at work (which I had never done before), so I set up my tripod and gave use to that remote control at last.  So here I give you my workspace and in my first "Environmental Portrait".

My wall (I'd call it my studio, or office, but it's just a wall actually)
Mind you, I did organize it a little bit before this pic.  Do not be fooled by the perfectly arranged yarn inside the basket.  It is normally all spread out in the floor!
I'll save the close-up portrait for someone who is not so camera shy at the moment ;)

So I hope that in a short time I can fill this blog with more appealing pictures, and I hope you keep coming back, even with so little update over here...

~Joji

5 comments:

Ashiepoo22 said...

Aw I love your little knitting nook. And I'm in love with those stash pics. That gray is absolutely gorgeous.

What kind of camera did you get? My digital SLR beast (a canon) died a few months back and I haven't had the heart to get a new one yet because I'm one of those people who use the auto setting rather than learning to control "the beast." So I'm not allowing myself to buy a new one until I can commit to learning how to use the darn thing.

Good luck in photo school!

Andreapgn said...

L O V E L Y Photos. The previous one were so beautiful too, but these ones... yum! I like your knitting wall too!

Unknown said...

Your stash photos look amazing! I loved reading this blog post because I have a DSLR hidden deep within my closet that I'm afraid to use. I purchased the camera with hopes to take amazing stash photos and project photos… but instead I just use my iphone. I'm going to pull out the old camera today and figure things out. Thanks for providing me with motivation!

Unknown said...

Beautiful pictures!! I wish I could find a photo course locally....but unfortunately my Canon DSLR is out of use as the changing mode button (also to switch on and off)is broken. :( I don't have money to make it fixed, nor to buy a new one so my heart is broken that I can't take beautiful stash and FO pictures anymore. Instead I'm fighting with my compact to get real colours appear on photos...

dlclinch@gmail.com said...

Your patterns are lovely and deserve the best of photography skills. You are inspiring.